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Baby Esther Jones
Baby Esther was an eight year old entertainer who used to perform in nightclubs (most notably The Cotton Club) in the 1920s. Baby Esther interpolated words such as "Boo-Boo-Boo", "Wha-Da-Da","Doo-Doo-Doo" & "Do-Do-De-Do-Ho-De-Wa-Da-De-Da" in songs at a cabaret. Helen Kane saw Baby's act somewhere between 1925-1928 and had first used it in her first Victor release "That's My Weakness Now". Helen Kane then used the "Boop Oop a Doop" scat lyrics in the Broadway musical Good Boy and had a hit with the song entitled "I Wanna Be Loved By You" in 1928 and became famous overnight. An early test sound film was also discovered featured Baby Esther performing in this style, disproving Kane's claims to inventing the scat lyrics "Boop-Boop-a-Doop". Baby Esther's ex-manager testified that Helen Kane had saw Baby Esther's cabaret act in 1928. Supreme Court Judge Edward J. McGoldrick ruled: "The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force." In his opinion, the "baby" technique of singing did not originate with Kane. Other claims asked to Kane during the trial were that an witness claimed to have heard the phrase uttered in a Edith Griffith song, another defense asked if she had heard a 1913 song called "Bou Dou Ba Da Boum" to which Helen had denied. Due to Baby Esther being unable to attend the trial in the defense, three voices of Betty Boop, (Margie Hines), (Mae Questel) & (Bonnie Poe) were then focused on in the second part of the trial. Helen attempted to prove that they performed their vocal shimmies in a way so similar to her that it constituted unfair competition. When Max Fleischer, invented Betty Boop he was not only imitating Helen Kane but a whole image of women in the 1920s. Helen Kane did not initiate the phraseology "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" even though she most certainly popularized it. This catchy, inane line of scat was first used by a black entertainer by the name of Baby Esther. According to information Gertrude Saunders had used baby singing style with scatting included before Baby Esther in the 1921 musical Shuffle Along. Baby Esther would have only been 2 years old in 1921. Which is the reason why Saunders declared herself the originator of "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" and was tributed as the original "Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl" in several newspapers from 1934-1950, because she did it before Jones. Although in history and media, 8 year old child wonder Esther Jones is better known as the originator of the singing style. "Baby Esther" a Hit in Paris (1929) "Baby Esther" Jones, who sailed a few weeks ago for Europe, headlined last week at the Empire Theater in Paris. She has been heralded as child wonder of Paris and is creating a sensation wherever she appears. Baby Esther at the Moulin Rouge (1929) "Baby Esther" Jones, who was taken to Paris by Lou Bolton, white, is still all the rage at the Moulin Rouge, where she is appearing with Abe Lyman's band, and will soon leave for an engagement in Madrid Spain. After a fight with her mother about her contract, Bolton has returned to the States, leaving her under the management of a colored Parisian. Honored (1930) Two years later at the age of 10 after touring several countries Baby Esther who was also a dancer, shared honors with Josephine Hall, both of which represented their race as well as the United States. Nightclub Singer Baby Esther was an opening act, who was very little known. In the 1920s she used to perform at nightclubs in Harlem most notably the The Cotton Club. The only person who would have been able to confirm this today had he not been deceased would have to have been Cab Calloway the Hi-De-Ho Man as he used to headline at The Cotton Club in 1925 and was strongly associated with the club for years. According to Marion Luber who was a nightclub dancer she heard "Baby" Esther perform at an Atlantic City, New Jersey nightclub in 1928. Dan Healy who starred with Helen Kane in the 1928 musical Good Boy had worked in The Cotton Club since 1925 and would often produce and appear in the stage shows as he himself was a singer and dancer. The stage show was often advertised as Dan Healy's Cotton Club on Parade. The link between Dan Healy, The Cotton Club and Helen Kane is quite the coincidence. A witness had claimed that they had saw Helen attend the club and that she had saw Baby Esther's performance and not too long after started to Boop. It is known that Danny Healy was still working at The Cotton Club between 1927-1928, around that time period (1928) Daniel was also working with Helen Kane in the musical Good Boy ''and they were paired together because the Broadway characters they played, "Pansy McManus" and "Bobby D'Arnell" appeared in a small scene incorporating the song "I Wanna Be Loved By You" a song in which would become a hit overnight. Dan would continue to produce shows for the ''The Cotton Club in 1934 & again in 1936. Three years later in 1939 Dan Healy married Helen Kane and they stayed married until Helen died in 1966. According to information given there were a lot of African-American performers who used to perform at the club. From Duke Ellington, Baby Cox to The Cotton Club Boys who were a chorus of male African-American dancers who appeared exclusively in Cotton Club performances who made their debut in the Spring of 1934 Edition of the Cotton Club Parade. The Cotton Club Girls in the early years included Mae Robinson and Isabel Washington, as well as sisters Hilda and Vivian Brown, Margaret Cheraux, Millicent Cook, Mildred Dixon, Peggy Griffiths, Carolyn Rich Henderson, Ethel, Lucia and Julia Moses, Julia Noisette, Evelyn Shepard, and Tondelayo. The Cotton Club Girls had already become an institution in their own right and the Club's management, feeling they needed a new gimmick, decided to use a line of young male dancers. Dozens were auditioned, and ten were finally chosen: Maxie Armstrong, Louis Brown, Charles "Chink" Collins, Howard "Stretch" Johnson, Thomas "'Chink" Lee, Eddie Morton, Tommy Porter, Walter Shepherd, William Smith, and Jimmy Wright. They were made a feature act of the show and their new style of group dancing, in which all moved together in rhythmic unison, was immediately popular. At the end of an eight-month run they became an established feature at the Club. The Boys later performed in specialty acts at the Apollo Theater and also toured with Cab Calloway and his band. Subsequent members of the Cotton Club Boys include Julius Adger, Al Alstock, Roy Carter, Sherman Coates, Warren Coleman, Ernest Frazier, Freddie Heron, and Roy Porter. Author Jacque Malone notes that in 1940, the Cotton Club Boys’ performance in Chicago included Jules Adjers, Louie Brown, Freddy Heron, Chink Lee, Eddie Morton, Charles “Cholly” Atkins. Just like there is no footage of Baby Esther scat singing, there is also no live footage of Helen Kane and Dan Healy performing the 1928 hit song "I Wanna Be Loved By You" from the musical Good Boy. The show in which Kane first started to "Boop" was referenced in the 1950 film Three Little Words where Helen is played by Debbie Reynolds and Dan Healy is played by Carleton Carpenter. The sequence shows that the production of Good Boy featuring Kane was a hit. It also went down to her adding the scat sounds, in which made her a star practically overnight. Negro Girl Of Nightclub Is A Real Dooper (1934) Helen Kane's Boop-Boop-a-Doop trial today went Booping back to the night clubs of 1928 and a little Negro girl, proclaimed as the original Dooper. It was Summer of 1928, Helen already has told Justice McGoldrick, that she pursed her lips first and "laid 'em in the aisles" with her initial Boop-Boop-a-Doop. That date is important in her $250,000 suit against Paramount Publix Corporation and the Fleischer Studios for imitating her in the Betty Boop animated cartoons. For Baby Esther, 8 year old girl, delivering many a Boop-Boop-a-Doop in New York months before according to the testimony of Lou Bolton, the child's manager. Bolton claimed that Helen had a ring side seat at the Everglades Club on Broadway one Winter's night when Baby Esther was Booping - that was before Helen's first Boop too. The defense, through Attorney Louis Phillips, also submitted testimony that Helen actually encouraged imitation. Boop-a-Doop Mystery (1932) The great Boop-a-Doop mystery now joins those other famous cases. Watson! There's the unsolved matter of whence came "Hi-De-Hi" and "Ho-De-Ho." And the hot-cha-cha affair still baffles the po-police. It's not elementary this time my dear fellow! Helen Kane, who once cashed in on "Booping" and cashed out on court litigation, believes there's still gold in them boops. In fact she asks $250,000 of that animated cutie Betty Boop. It all depends upon where Boop-a-Doop came from. Was or was not Miss Kane the first of the Boopers? The answer is believed to lie in Harlem. Scouts now search the Negro cabarets for data. They find themselves getting a bit tangled in the ramifications of the scat song. And one of the amusing issues will be whether or not anyone can "Boop" or whether boop-ing is Miss Kane's own and particular property. Evidence Against Kane Edith Griffith, and Felix Mayol were also used as evidence against Helen Kane, but the old footage of Baby Esther performing the routine helped prove that Helen Kane was not the "first" Boop-Oop-a-Doop singer in the business. Including Clarence Williams who testified that he had invented the "Boop Oop a Doop" phrase. A number of witnesses testified before Supreme Court Justice Edward J McGoldrick today that they had heard Boop-Boop-a-Doop songs long before Helen Kane says she introduced them to the public. Miss Kane insists that she was the originator of the singing technic which she has claimed as hers since 1928, and that the technic was stolen by Max Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, Inc. and Paramount-Publix Corporation in the promotion of the Betty Boop animated screen cartoons. For this infringement on her alleged rights Miss Kane has appealed to the court for $250,000 damages. The first witness today was Alfred Evans, who said that he was in the employ of Rudy Vallée. He said that in 1927, a year before Helen Kane first offered a Boop to the American theater-going public, he heard a few Boops from Edith Griffith, who affected a baby voice in her stage performances. Another witness, who insisted that Helen Kane's Boops were not 100 per cent novelties, was Marion Luber, a dancer, who told the court that early in 1928 she heard Baby Esther, a Negro child performer employ the Boop style of singing which Miss Kane considers her own. Under cross-examination this witness said she did not recall the songs she heard Bay Esther sing but that she remembered the child's songs were replete with Boops and Doops. Alfred Evans, an employe of Rudy Vallée, said he heard Edith Griffith sing "baby" songs in an Omaha, Neb theatre in 1927, with the interpolations, "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" and "Poop-Poop-a-Doop." Mrs. Marion Luber, dancer testified that she had heard similar noises made by "Baby" Esther Jones at an Atlantic City night club in 1928. The chief defense witness was Little Ann Little, 24, whose voice is synchornized with the Betty Boop cartoons. Nine years ago, she testified she sang "baby" songs in the Greenwich Village Follies. "I sang cute baby songs and did breaks at the end of the bars of music, Miss Little said. These "breaks," she continued, included the sounds "Wha-Da-De-Dah," "Bo-Vo-Deo-Do" and even "Ba-Da-Daten-Doop," "Is that one a new one on you?" she ad libbed, directing the question at Louis Phillips, defense attorney who yesterday demonstrated a keen knowledge of spelling "baby" sounds by coming to the aid of a bewildered court stenographer. Justice McGoldrick reminded Miss Little that answering questions was all that the court expected of witnesses. Helen Kane Is Not Original Helen Kane Is Not The Original A medley of strange unintelligible sounds came today from the court room where Helen Kane's big Boop-Boop-a-Doop trial is being heard. There was a "Boop" or two then a "Doo-Doo-Doo" finally "Wha-Da-Da-Da!" Everyone especially the court stenographer was confused. The stenographer's knowledge of spelling did not transcend the dictionary. The assortment of noises came during the attempts of the defense to show that the art of "Booping" was not original with Helen Kane. That the responsibility rested with others who had preceded her on stage. Miss Kane is seeking $250,000 damages from Max Fleischer, cartoonist, the Fleischer Studios and Paramount Publix corporation on the ground that the Betty Boop screen cartoons constitute larceny on her mannerisms and song technique. Testifying for the defense Lou Bolton, theatrical manager said that one of his stage proteges, Esther Jones a Negro woman had interpolated songs with syliables similar to Miss Kane's as long ago as 1925. In 1928, Bolton continued, Miss Kane and her manager attended a performance of Miss Jones whose stage name was Baby Esther in a New York night club just a few weeks later he said Miss Kane began to "Boop" at a theater here. Then followed an exhaustive retracing of the history of "Boop-Boop-a-Doopery". The Last Time We Saw Paris... (1944) Baby Esther Jones was referenced in 1944 among several other African-American performers who visited Paris, France, including Cab Calloway. Information on Baby Esther (Ray Pointer) Information provided by Ray Pointer (Fleischer Historian): The film of "Baby" Esther was a double system sound technique like Vitaphone. Lou Fleischer told me the whole story. The film did not "break" at the point of the Boop-Oop-a-Doop part. They did not show this in court. What happened was the print has been spliced in several places due to breakage and went out of sync at the crucial point due to the lost frames. Lou and Kitty Pfister, head Film Cutter stayed up all night locating spots to insert black film slugs to replace the lost frames to put the crucial spot back in sync. A new married print with optical sound was produced, the Paramount News Lab being kept open all night waiting for this to present as evidence the next morning. The remark about Justice McGoldrick being "bribed" is a conclusion not based on fact. There was enough remaining evidence to prove Miss Kane's case. However since there is a Film Faily Trade Ad that places a picture of Helen Kane next to an early version of Betty Boop. Further evidence can be found in the tampering with the original negative to "Stopping the Show", which was built around Mae Questel's stage act impressions, which prompted Max Fleischer in hiring her. This is the first official Betty Boop cartoon which consists of a series of contemporary celebrities. Each is introduced by a photograph of that celebrity with animated lips and the voice of that celebrity coming from the picture. Only the voice of Maurice Chevalier is authentic. The voice of Fanny Brice is an imitation by Mae Questel. Oddly, the sequence begins with Betty going right into "That's My Weakness Now", a song made popular by Helen Kane. This song is not set up by the celebrity picture on the easel as the others are. You hear an audio splice from the audience applause going to the song. At two points there is a Long Shot, one of which Pans from the stage to the audience. In the background is an image on a easel that looks like the image of Helen Kane. Why else would it be there? This direct reference to Helen Kane was deliberately removed from the negative so that a new print could be shown in court that would not indicate an edit. But it clearly was removed from the negative. Paramount took advantage of the ignorance of film technology on the part of court, which accepted what they saw not knowing what had been done to alter the evidence. Lou Walton Lou Walton (Sometimes his second name is mistaken for Bolton) was Baby Esther's manager. Baby Esther did not attend the trial, but Lou Walton spoke in the Fleischers and Paramounts defense. Defense Attorney: "What sounds did she (Baby Esther) interpolate?" Lou Walton: "Boo-Boo-Boo!" (Recited Walton) Defense Attorney: "What other sounds?" Lou Walton: "Doo-Doo-Doo." Defense Attorney: "Any others?" Lou Walton: "Yes, Wha-Da-Da-Da." (Said Walton tiring a little) The court stenographer broke down at this point, He threw his hands into the air as a gesture of despair and announced he would need aid in spelling the "meaningless sounds". Walton could not give him any aid, Philips did however. Other defense witnesses were Bonnie Poe and Margie Hines who's voices were used in the Betty Boop films. Help! Stenographer Can't Take Wha-Da-Da's & Boops Recording of the Helen Kane "Boop-Oop-a-Doop" jargon in the singers $250,000 damage suit trial in Supreme Court, Manhattan has been driving the court stenographer to distraction. He threw his hands in dismay and yelled for help today when the testimony was offered as to the in-articulate jargon of Baby Esther. Negress night club singer from whom the defense was trying to establish. the Helen of the rolling eyes got the "Boop-Oop-a-Doop" idea. The Afro American Newspaper (1934) In 1934 the Afro American newspaper stated: Baby Esther originated the Boop-a-Doop style of singing, and Helen Kane white movie an radio star barefacedly swiped it and made a fortune from it a court trial reveals as Miss Kane sues imitators, (Mae Questel, Bonnie Poe, Little Ann Little, Kate Wright, Margie Hines) of the Boop style. T'would be logical now for Baby Esther to sue Miss Kane to even things all around. Meaning the newspaper stated that Baby Esther "should" have sued Kane, but she didn't, most likely because she was presumed to be "dead" by her manager. Baby Esther used to perform at The Cotton Club down in Harlem in the early 20s and several years had passed since then. The Boop Song Is Traced Witness in Helen Kane's Suit Says Negro Girl Originated Style. Evidence that syllables similar to Helen Kane's "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" were sung before she began to use them was offered before Supreme Court Justice McGoldrick yesterday in the trial of Miss Kane's $250,000 suit against Max Fleischer, the Fleischer Studios and the Paramount Publix Corporation on the grounds that they imitated her (Helen's) style in the Betty Boop cartoons. Lou Walton, theatrical manager testified that Baby Esther a Negro girl under his management has interpolated words like "Boo-Boo-Boo" and "Doo-Doo-Doo" in songs at a cabaret here in 1928. Oyla (Cosplay Artist) A photo of a Russian model known as Модель Оля (Model Oyla) who posed in several photographs as Betty Boop in which went viral and has been seen by millions of people on the internet where the photo has been mistaken as Baby Esther, and or Helen Kane. The reason as to why the photoshoot of Oyla was mistaken for Baby Esther was because "HelloBeautiful's" Lifestyle Editor Danielle Young posted the photo of the "white" Russian cosplayer dressed up as Betty Boop and claimed it was Baby Esther without researching the origin of the photograph, which made people believe the photograph was actually "Baby Esther", and also lead some people to believe Betty Boop was of mixed-race heritage/Mulatto. The real Baby Esther was a child, not a grown woman. $250,000 Lawsuit *$250,000 Infringement Lawsuit Betty Boop Era (1985) The black gal should have been suing Helen Kane! And, incidentally, where are Baby Esther's recordings? Well at least we have some of Helen's, and they're good fun. They date from 28, 29 and 30 and characteristically there are no per-sonnel listings. A pity, as the pianist really could stride, and someone took a heck of a hot coronet solo at one point. We'll probably never know, and this is one of the frustrations of early 20th century recordings. No data, A studio orchestra. Black History Month (2016) Baby Esther Jones was put on the spotlight for Black History Month (2016 ) where she was praised. It was dubbed that she was the true inspiration behind the creation of Boop Boop a Doop. Baby Esther Merchandise A Baby Esther Jones Afrocentric T-shirt by MindHarvest sold over 400 prints which can be brought directly on Etsy. The same T-shirt by MindHarvest was later sold on Dizinga by R4k4167. Death *During the trial, Baby Esther was presumed to have died by her ex-manager Lou Bolton. Although it is noted that in 1929, he and Esther's mother parted on bad terms after a fight about Esther's contract which resulted in him returning to the United States. Trivia *When Esther became a hit and toured, sometimes her mother accompanied her. *Baby Esther had been booping since 1925, whereas Felix Mayol had booped in 1913. Gertrude Saunders claimed that she was the one true originator of "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" and had used it in 1921. *Scholar Robert O' Meally said, Betty Boop was an "imitation of a imitation" and had, as it were, a black grandmother in her background. *Baby Esther Jones isn't to be confused with Little Esther Phillips. *Baby Esther was presumed dead in 1934, just when the lawsuit had ended and didn't attend the trial. *Lou Walton testified for the defense. Walton testified that nine years ago in Chicago he taught Baby Esther a negro child under his management to interpolate "Do-Do-De-Do-Ho-De-Wa-Da-De-Da" between the bars of music in popular songs, which means the scat lyrics used by the black performer were a variety. *Kane was said to have adapted the black performer's scat sounds to Poop then later from Poop to Boop. *Baby Esther made funny expressions (funny faces) and interpolated meaningless sounds at the end of each bar of music in the songs that she performed to the audience in The Cotton Club in Harlem. *The image taken by James Van Der claimed to be Esther originated from a Betty Boop website. The image stated to be Esther in 1928 couldn't be Esther, because the woman featured in the image is too old, Esther was only age 8 in 1928 which would have made her 14 years old in 1934. *In a 1934 newspaper interview Little Ann Little one of the several voices of Betty Boop took credit for the African-American scat singers who'd claimed they'd Booped at the trial. Ann stated that she had Booped in 1925 and would often give a "Wha-Da-De-Da". Ann was dubbed the baby of the Greenwich Village Follies in the early 1920s and would sing cute baby songs. External Links *Baby Esther Jones at Facebook *Baby Esther Jones at Sinous Magazine *Baby Esther Jones at blackamericaweb *Baby Esther Jones at Madamenoire *Baby Esther Jones at Papermag *Baby Esther Jones at Nlcafe.Hu *KFVS12 *North Dallas Gazette *NYDailyNews *The True Story About Betty Boop *Who Was the Real Inspiration For Betty Boop the First Cartoon Sex Symbol? *The Harlem Jazz Singer Who Inspired Betty Boop *The Forgotten Black Woman Behind Betty Boop *The Real Betty Boop Was Black the Low Down Truth of Her Story Has Many Pissed (2017) *7 Interesting Facts About Baby Esther & Boop-Oop-a-Doop at On The Black List (2017) *The Only Betty Boop We Acknowledge Is Esther (2017) See Also *Модель Оля *Helen Kane *Clarence Williams *Felix Mayol *Edith Griffith *Gertrude Saunders *Little Esther Phillips Category:Article stubs Category:People